Obesity and being overweight have recently become a topic of interest and of much discussion. The increased interest may be attributed, in part, to the suggestion that excess weight may significantly affect a person's health. For example, excess weight may increase the likeliness of many health related problems, such as, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, as well as many others problems.
One or the more common factors contributing to excess weight gain is overeating. To the untrained eye, it can be very challenging to accurately judge the portion size of a meal. In many instances, when uncertain about the portion size, the eye may underestimate the size of the portion, resulting in portions being oversized causing overeating. In addition to overeating, another common factor contributing to excess weight is the lack of a balanced diet. In many instances, it is easy to loose track of the types of food consumed on a daily basis tending to result in people eating more of one food group than another.
However, there are many dieting plans and strategies that could be incorporated into a daily routine to help promote excess weight loss. For example, eating healthier foods, such as increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables while decreasing the consumption of fatty foods, eating multiple meals small instead of one or two large meals, controlling the portion size in meals, and increasing daily exercise, to name a few. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a device that can help to accurately determine appropriate portion sizes to enhance portion control in the diet and that may help to achieve a more balanced diet.